Walk with great scenic views over the valleys
ON Sunday, September 13, Medi Hughes led the Carmarthen Ramblers on an 8.5-mile walk in the Llandeilo area.
The walk followed footpaths, quiet country roads and farmland with some great scenic views over the Towy and Cennen valleys.
The weather forecast for the day was for light cloud with sunny intervals with a gentle breeze and temperatures rising to 18C in the afternoon.
The walk started from the railway station car park in Llandeilo from where they crossed the railway line and followed a footpath initially westward along side the track then at a junction in the path they turned left to follow the path over a pedestrian suspension bridge that took them over the Towy into a field and crossed it to meet Bethlehem Road.
Turning northwards they followed the road for about a quarter of a mile to a road junction at Tygwyn and this was the start of an hour-long hill climb that followed the run of the Breinant in the gorge beside them for almost two miles.
Shortly after passing the entrance to Brynteg they left the road and turned southwards onto a track still climbing as they passed through Tir-y-lan and westwards as they passed through a series of fields to reach a country road at Cwmcîb.
Turning southwards along the road they passed Cwmcîb Uchaf and walked through the yard of Llwynbedw and stopped for lunch a little further on at Bank Treiorwg just another before a country road.
They had a grand view of the Black Mountain directly ahead and looking to an easterly direction Picws Du and Fan Foel in the Carmarthen Fans.
Also, directly in front of them was Carreg Cennen Castle which appeared to be heavily camouflaged against the Black Mountain behind it.
In the afternoon they walked the road in a south westerly direction for just a quarter of a mile to the lane that took them up to Gelli-groes farm and from there they ventured in a north westerly direction as they crossed a series of fields again now with a the great iconic view of Llandeilo and its brightly painted houses in the distance. They slowly descended the hillside into the Towy Valley and met the Trapp road at Cwm-isaf.
The group stayed on the road for about half a mile as it led downhill to pass Tregeyb Wood, the now vacant Tregib school and met the Bethlehem road in Ffairfach.
At this point they turned left and headed into the village crossing the Afon Cennen just 100 metres from its confluence with the Towy then passing under the railway line and onto the A476 – the Crosshands road, for a few hundred metres.
Just before the new school – Ysgol Bro Dinefwr – they located a footpath that led across the route of the old railway line from Carmarthen and passed behind the cattle market to the derelict buildings of Bridge Farm.
Here they climbed a set of stone steps that took them up to meet Bridge Street on the A483 road that runs through the main street in Llandeilo.
They crossed the Towy via the masonry road bridge and admired the well-kept and attractive houses that lined the street that and then turned right into Church Street and stopped at the church to catch up on its history.
Shortly after the church they located a stony path that led down hill towards the river and just before they reached the suspension bridge, they turned left along the footpath that took them back to the railway station to complete the walk.